Everybody
is talking about the last days these days, making predictions, talking about
the signs of the times. And the signs are there. Jesus Himself said that many
would come claiming to be the Christ, and they have. From Simon bar Kochba in
the early second century to Sun Myung Moon and David Koresh in the twentieth. Jesus
spoke of wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes in
various places. Wars are being fought constantly somewhere in our world;
famines in Ethiopia, the former Soviet Union, North Korea; AIDS and Cancer,
heart disease and strokes killing millions every year not to mention the
antibiotic resistant strains of diseases thought to be all but conquered; over
the past few years we have heard of earthquakes we never thought would have
earthquakes. The signs of the times. But Jesus said, "the end is not
yet." Jesus said, "these are the beginning of sorrows." But then
He goes on to say that His followers will be persecuted and put to death and
hated by all nations because of their relationship with him. Most people don't
know this, but 160,000 Christians gave their lives last year for the cause of
Christ in our world. Countless others were subjected to unimaginable horrors. And
the persecution appears to be escalating exponentially. But then Jesus says,
"many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one
another." In other words, there will be a great falling away, church
members will betray church members filled with hatred for one another. False
prophets will rise up and deceive many. The love of many, Jesus says, will wax
cold. The gospel will be preached in all the world and then the end will come.
Now I
want you to see what Paul says in II Thessalonians about the end time. Understand,
many in the church at Thessalonica believed that the Day of the Lord had
already taken place and they had missed it. The Old Testament is filled with
references to the great and terrible Day of the Lord. In fact, the prophets
foretold its coming so much that pretty soon, people began to take it for
granted. Oh, sure, they would say, God's going to wipe us off the map. Big
deal, they would say, we've heard it all our lives. The judgment of God is
coming. And the people had come to the point that they believed the judgment
had come but they didn't know it. But hear me. The coming day of the Lord has
always been on God's calendar for the time of the end, the last days.
And if
you will back up with me to I Thessalonians 4, Paul talks about the rapture of
the church. He says the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And in 5:2, he
says, "you know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in
the night." I believe what Paul is revealing to us is that the Day of the
Lord will begin with the rapture of the church. When the church is removed from
this world, the salt and the light that is to illumine and to preserve, this
world will fully understand the expression that all hell will break loose,
because then the man of sin, the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition, the
Antichrist himself will be revealed.
I want
you to notice first what Paul says in his letter to the Thessalonians. The day
will not come until after the falling away. Remember what Jesus said, many will
be offended (or fall away), will betray one another, will hate each other. A
falling away. It seems like that is the situation of our day. Church attendance
is down. And the impact of the church is definitely dwindling. Could this be
another sign that the day is near? Yes. Does that mean it could happen at any
moment? Yes. Then what should we be doing? Exactly what we have always been
told to do – making disciples.
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